'It feels like we are in Nigeria:' Naija Summer Fest brings sense of home to Brandon
Festival builds community bridges while celebrating Nigerian culture and identity, organizers
Chairperson Tabitha Hosteen dances at the Naija Summer Fest at Brandon’s Riverbank Discovery Centre on Saturday. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Brandon’s Naija Summer Fest was a day of laughter and joy, with hundreds gathering to celebrate Nigeria with song, dance, fashion and food.
Naija Summer Fest organizers say the festival rejoices in the cultural vibrancy of Nigeria in Brandon, while preserving traditions for newcomers, the next generation and community as a whole.
Femi Oriola, with United Nigerians in Brandon Association, was dancing while waving the Nigerian flag with pride at Riverbank Discovery Centre Saturday.
The festival is helping keep Nigerian pride alive in the city he now calls home, Oriola said.
“Culture is everything. It’s identity, it’s something we want to pass on to our younger generations,” Oriola said. “You can see the little ones all dressed up in Nigerian attires … we would like to leave this legacy for them.”
Oriola first moved to Brandon in 2013 to study business at Assiniboine College. At the time, he was one of a handful of Nigerians living in the Wheat City. Now he says there are thousands.
Nigerians have travelled thousands of miles to settle in Canada and it can be a strange and lonely experience without community, Oriola said.
Femi Oriola, with United Nigerians in Brandon Association, says the festival celebrates Nigerian culture with newcomers, the next generation and greater community. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
“When you see a presence of this kind of community and gathering, you feel that sense of belongingness.” he said. “You’re not left alone … you’re part of this wonderful Nigerian community.”
Nigeria is a diverse country with hundreds of unique cultures — many of them on display at the festival, he said. The festival also nodded to Canadian cultural identity with an Indigenous drum group.
“We have migrated here, and we call Brandon our home. We call the land of Canada home,” he said. “We also acknowledge the Indigenous people and all of the cultures that we met here as immigrants, and we want to be involved in that community.”
These community connections are part of the greater goal of the United Nigerians in Brandon Association helping newcomers settle in the community, find jobs, build their social network and more.
Dance competitions, fashion and food were on display at the festival. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
For 11-year-old Teminioluwa Koiki, the festival is a source of pride after moving to Brandon about five years ago.
It’s a chance to stand tall, especially after facing some bullying at school for being Nigerian, Koiki said.
“People will make some racist comments about my country,” she said. “I don’t want you to be mocking me or my culture.”
Koiki showed her pride by passionately dancing on stage and showing her love for Nigeria.
Hanniel Hosteen, 12, left, Hadassah Hosteen, 8, and Teminioluwa Koiki, 11, helped with food and dancing during the festival. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Koiki wants people to connect with her home country and see what she sees — a diverse nation with a lot to offer.
“I’m proud of my culture, that this is the day that I get to decide what I get to do and how, and the way we dress,” she said. ” I’m a very proud Nigerian and I don’t care what you say.”
Hanniel Hosteen, 12, mirrored Koiki’s pride while helping cook soya — a Nigerian street food of spicy marinated meat on a stick.
For her the festival is about sharing her heritage.
“The songs are amazing. You’re gonna learn a lot about our culture and who we are,” she said. “I feel like there’s a lot of people that should learn our culture and, like, see who we are.”
Hosteen’s mom and festival chair Tabitha Hosteen says moving to Brandon in 2022 felt welcoming, thanks to the growing Nigerian community and the city’s overall hospitality.
Video of the festival will be shared with friends and family in Nigeria, to show the impact the culture is having in Brandon. (Chelsea Kemp/CBC)
Those strong and warm connections are motivating Nigerians to invest in businesses and neighbourhoods helping the city grow, she said.
For Hosteen, the festival wraps those experiences together, bringing smiles and fostering friendships.
They’re sharing video from the festival back home so people can showcase the mark Nigeria is making in Brandon.
“It feels like we are in Nigeria today,” she said. “We are bringing our home into another nation, another community … we’re going to build a relationship.”
Oriola shares that vision. His goal is to provide the same sense of belonging he found in Brandon for everyone who arrives, giving them a taste of home while they settle in.
“It’s all about celebration of [Nigerian] uniqueness in this land of Canada and Brandon,” he said.